10 Reasons a Homebased Business May Beat Having a Job
My Business Partner, Ray Higdon Recently Did a Blog Post about “10 reasons why a Homebased Business May Beat Having a Job.” I liked the post so much that I have decided to re post it to my blog.
A friend and associate of mine, Patrick Snow, wrote a book called “Creating Your Own Destiny”. It is a great book that I highly recommend. In the book, Patrick made a list that he called “The Top 10 Reasons Why Your Job Sucks”. I wanted to take time to go through that list and then talk about how a homebased business may beat having a job.
Should Everyone Have a Homebased Business?
I thought I should answer that question. As much as I would like to say yes to that answer, the reality is, having a homebased business is NOT for everyone. If I could sum up one trait that is critical for someone to have success with a homebased business, it would be the desire of something more. That could mean more time freedom, money, adventure, fun, but more. There are lots of people that have fallen into the mass mediocrity of not wanting more and simply accept that their life is what they are going to get. To successfully work from home, Belief in yourself is absolutely critical. That is a BIG difference between working a job where so long as you can do what you are told, you can have some level of success. So, without further adieu, on to the list!
10. Not Enough Vacation Time
Do you really think your life is meant to be structured to only have one to two vacation weeks a year? Have you ever had to miss an important event due to “not having enough vacation time”?
9. No Tax Deductions As An Employee
When you work for someone else, you get virtually no tax benefits. In a book called “Lower Your Taxes” by Sandy Botkin, a former attorney and trainer for the IRS, he makes some powerful statements. In the first sentence and first chapter of the book he suggests you own a homebased business to enjoy the best tax benefits this country has to offer.
8. Unpaid Overtime And Working on Weekends
This is especially true in this economy. Guess what? When the unemployment rate is as high as it is, bosses and owners know that they can expect more out of you without paying you for it. They know there are plenty of people out there that would LOVE to have your job so the majority of bosses out there are asking employees to work longer and harder hours for the same or less pay.
7. Business Travel Away From Your Family
I have never had a job that didn’t ask me to do some traveling. However, I have never had a job consider my significant other and kids. However, compare that with my homebased business that I have won 6 vacations from in the last year, and, every single vacation, they paid for my significant other.
6. Your Daily Commute
You know what the best thing about an alarm clock is? Not having one. I remember getting up, getting ready and jumping in my monkey suit to drive to someone else’s building to work for someone else’s dream, now, my commute is from my bedroom to my kitchen where I usually have my laptop.
5. No Respect and No Job Security
Security is an interesting thing. Some believe that having a homebased business is too risky. By the age of 25 I had worked my way up corporate America as a project manager and then a database administrator. I saw people getting laid off and losing their job, to me, putting my future 100% in the hands of someone else was too risky. I have never had an actual terrible boss but I do remember defining moments in my corporate career where it was made apparent to me that my opinion really did not matter at all. Most people simply want more respect in life, that is something you don’t typically find working for someone else.
4. Too Little Pay and No Ownership
Most people focus on pay. That is not always the best thing to look at but in this economy, people are getting paid less and less to do what they used to do and, like point 8, they are getting asked to do more than ever. The BIGGER point is no ownership. Why would someone work their whole life on something they will never own. When you work a homebased business, not only are you paid in a more tax friendly way, you also have been building an asset that you own. You never see someone work their way up to a vice president level and then sell their position to their brother…that’s because they don’t own anything to sell.
3. Worrying About Being Laid Off
Here’s the reality, 20 of America’s largest corporations have shut down in the last 18 months. I recall one of the first to go was Bear-Stearns. Bear-Stearns was the 4th largest bank in the world, had survived 2 World Wars and the Depression and in the blink of an eye, one Monday Morning, 14,000 unsuspecting employees lost their jobs. Do you know who also lost their job that day? The Employee of the month. It is not always just the crappy employees that lose their jobs.
2. You work With a Bunch of Stiffs
This one doesn’t really apply to me as I have always worked with people that were fun to work with, however, I know a lot of people can resonate with this. However, owning a homebased business means having the power to pick and choose who you work with. In fact, just this morning I told someone that I didn’t think we could work together. Some confuse working a homebased business with trying to work with anybody and everybody and I simply disagree.
1. Your Boss is an “Idiot”
When I worked for other people, I certainly had my share of interesting bosses. One boss I thanked profusely for learning so much from them, I didn’t include the fact that they taught me about everything NOT to do, just simply thanked them for teaching me so much. Here is a quote from Plato that I think sums this up:
“One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors.” – Plato
I think this pertains to your business life as well. Refusing to own your own business can doom you to be managed by those that are inferior.
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To Your Abundance!
I ran the Disneyland 1/2 Marathon Today in Anaheim California. While I was running I saw a sign on a local business that said “You Can Get All A’s And Still Flunk Life.” So I decided to take a picture with my Iphone and Write a blog post about my thoughts on this sign.
